Ranger Killed at Rainier National Park

Park closes as armed suspect escapes

ShareTweetEmail

Law enforcement officials in Washington State are searching for a man who shot and killed National Park Service Ranger Margaret Anderson Sunday morning, then fled into the forest in Mount Rainier National Park. Anderson, 34, a mother of two, was shot while attempting to stop a speeding car believed to be driven by Benjamin Colton Barnes. Rangers began pursuing Barnes, 24, an Iraq war veteran who police say was involved in a four-person shooting in Seattle early on New Year's day, when he failed to stop at a park checkpoint for snow chains. Officials found weapons and body armor in Barnes's car. More than 100 visitors already inside the park spent Sunday night at a ranger station. Law enforcement officials from the FBI, U.S. Forest Service, and Washington State Police are searching for the shooter.